Pervert who filmed up schoolgirls’ skirts in Blackpool McDonald’s jailed

A dad who filmed up young schoolgirls’ skirts as they queued up at McDonald’s was arrested after his horrified partner recognised him on a Facebook appeal and confronted him.

Omar Hayes, 35, of St Andrews Gate, St Annes, was jailed for nine months at Preston Crown Court following his guilty pleas to outraging public decency and possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

David Clarke, prosecuting, said a couple at McDonald’s, Bank Hey Street, Blackpool, alerted police after seeing Hayes using his mobile phone to film up the skirts of girls aged around 12 and 13, who were wearing their school uniforms and were queuing in front of him on April 5.

Police obtained a still photograph of Hayes from the restaurant’s CCTV and used it to trace him via social media, which his partner saw.

She sobbed in the public gallery as Judge Simon Newell made a five year sexual harm prevention order against him.

He said: “You were standing behind them making concerted, persistent and deliberate efforts to put your mobile phone towards the ground and film up their skirts.

He added it seemed to be an increasingly prevalent offence and added: “Quite what the rationale behind it is I’m not sure.

“But unknown to you behind you were a young couple who were disturbed by what they saw going on.”

When officers visited Hayes at the family’s home, they found 85 wraps of cannabis with a street value of more than £1,000 on the kitchen worktop.

The footage had been deleted from his phone.

When interviewed, Hayes said he had no ideal why he had filmed the schoolgirls as he had no sexual attraction to them.

Ton Lord, defending, said Hayes lost his job as a card shop manager after the offence came to light.

He said Hayes was a long-standing cannabis user.

Mr Lord added: “The courts are going to be concerned if this sort of offence is indicative of nefarious gratification or a juvenile act by someone who should know better. I submit it is the latter rather than the former.”